Electrical conduit systems are required in order to safely provide electric power to homes, commercial buildings, and the like. These conduit systems often include long runs of rigid electrical conduits or tubing systems with frequent changes in direction, such as 90° turns. The conduits include interruptions with various couplings to accommodate bends or changes in direction. The conduits serve to provide a protective housing for the wires therein and to route these wires throughout the building or other installation as required. Conduits are typically constructed of a rigid metal pipe.
A conduit body is a separate portion of a conduit or tubing system that provides easy access through a removable cover to the interior of a raceway or tubing system. Conduit bodies are used primarily as junction or pull boxes and are usually installed to facilitate a change in direction of wires in a conduit. Conventional conduit bodies can have openings at one or more ends as well as through the upper and lower walls. A conventional naming system identifies various types of conduit body configurations as “LB,” “LR,” “T,” “X” and “C” which define the relative orientation of access ports and a removable cover.
Typically, wiring conduits involves first passing an electrical guide wire through a conduit body into an electrical conduit to another conduit body. In an exemplary wire pulling operation, insulated wires are secured to a hook end of the guide wire and are then pulled back through the conduit. Specifically, wires are inserted through an opening on the bottom or side of the conduit body and out through another opening located along another side or top of the conduit body. The friction caused by pulling the wires through the conduit causes friction between the wires and edges of the hub access port of the conduit body. This makes it difficult to pull the wire through the conduit housing, especially if there are many bends along the conduit length. While power pullers are used for this purpose it is not unusual for the insulation to be damaged or even for the pulled cords to break. Once broken in a conduit, a partially pulled wire is then very difficult to access. In addition, damage to the insulation caused by friction of the insulation rubbing against the edges of openings of the conduit body may go unnoticed.
Attempts to minimize such friction associated with the rubbing of wires against the openings of conduit bodies are known. For instance, some manufacturers have inserted roller pins and smooth shields to minimize the friction. However, such devices are usually expensive to construct having multi-part assemblies, and may not be used with conventional conduit bodies.
Accordingly, there is a present need for a device that allows for a reduction in friction associated with wires rubbing against the inside of the openings of a conduit body.